JOSEF FRITZL
1935
In 1984, Josef Fritzl from Austria lured his daughter Elisabeth, 18, into the basement and kept her there to constantly abuse and rape. He told his wife Rosemarie and his children that Elisabeth ran away to join a cult. During confinement she had seven children, one died, three lived upstairs and three remained downstairs with her.
In 2008, her oldest daughter, Kerstin, 19, fell ill from kidney failure and she begged Fritzl to take her to the hospital. Staff were instantly suspicious, and when Fritzl permitted Elisabeth and her two sons to visit Kerstin; the police were alerted and Elisabeth exposed her father’s crimes.
Rosemarie alleged she knew nothing about his crimes which is hard to believe, she would have been suspicious of his actions and knew he spent a large amount of time in the basement. She never questioned or investigated why three of her daughter's children turned up on their doorstep.
Fritzl showed no remorse for his crimes and was found guilty in 2008 and got life imprisonment (he is eligible for parole next year in 2025). In prison, he has had his teeth knocked out.
Elisabeth initially was living with her mother and children in a villa, however, there was tension and resentment between mother and daughter and Elisabeth threw her mother out of their home. Today, they are on speaking terms.
Fritzl was a retired engineer who had a history of violence. In 1967, he broke into a woman’s home, threatened her life and held a knife to her and then raped her. He was convicted and imprisoned. Rosemarie knew of this crime and stood by him and told outsiders that he was away on a holiday. He started sexually assaulting his daughter Elisabeth when she was 11, Elisabeth grew up rebellious which Fritzl didn’t like, and made the decision to force her away from the outside world.
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